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Dutch tourist jailed for running afoul of Myanmar religious laws

A Myanmar court has sentenced a Dutch tourist to three months in prison for pulling the plug on a late-night sermon he said was disturbing his sleep. He's the latest foreigner legally sanctioned for slighting Buddhism.

Haytema was arrested last month in the country's cultural capital Mandalay after a crowd gathered around his hotel in protest when the loudspeakers at a nearby religious hall were unplugged.

The 30-year-old Dutchman apologized at a court hearing Tuesday, saying he was unaware a religious ceremony was in progress and had disconnected the hall's loudspeakers because they were disturbing his sleep. That's according to defense attorney Hla Ko, a Myanmar lawyer who volunteered to represent him.

Myanmar is experiencing a rising tide of radical Buddhist nationalism in recent years, with Mandalay a stronghold of the monk-led movement.

A judge convicted Haytema of "causing disturbance to an assembly lawfully engaged in the performance of religious worship," his attorney said, adding that an appeal was planned. Under the law, he could have faced up to two years in prison for insulting religion in the predominantly Buddhist country.

Religion is an important part of daily life for many in the majority Buddhist country, where crimson-robed monks walk the streets every morning and prayer halls regularly blast hypnotic chants on loudspeakers late into the evening. The monks are also part of a vanguard of rising religious nationalism that's seen clashes with minorities.